The present disclosure relates generally to additive manufactured support tools.
Support tools for manufacturing working components, such as composite aircraft parts, require custom surfaces to be generated using the support tool to support the working component. For example, during a trimming process, the working component is held in a fixture so the edges of the part can be trimmed. However, in some applications, such as in aircraft applications, the working components are very large. For example, wing components, such as the leading edge, the flaps, or other parts of the wing or fuselage of the aircraft are to be trimmed. Such components have a large surface area. To support the large working component, the support tool should be at least as large as the component.
Typically, the support tool is a large, metal plate-type support tool having a contoured surface matching the contoured surface of the component machined into the metal plate. The upper metal plate must be sufficiently thick to accommodate the contoured surface, which is expensive and has significant weight. The support tools typically include an egg-crate style metal structure having multiple components fit together and interlocking, which require custom machining operations to match the contour of the upper plate. The structures need to be assembled to support the upper plate, which can be time consuming and difficult to achieve. The resulting support tool is rather heavy and costly to manufacture.
Some small scale manufacturing processes employ additive manufactured parts. However, with large scale support tooling, the support tooling surface is too large for additive manufactured support tools to be practical. For example, the support tool itself may be unable to withstand certain forces, such as forces induced during transporting or moving of the support tool, without cracking under its own weight. Additionally, the support tool may be unable to maintain dimensional stability because the material of the support tool lacks required rigidity. For example, certain applications may require the support tool to maintain dimensional stability for the manufacturing process to be effective. One particular application is a trimming support tool that requires precise trimming of the composite part, such as for use as an aircraft wing. If the support tool is warped or damaged such that the supporting surface for the part is deflected more than an allowable tolerance, then the support tool can no longer be used for trimming the parts and a new support tool will need to be manufactured.